Episode 2-174
Summary In exposition, Asha explains that her mother had one close friend who was a half, whose husband left Carte for Willarv to serve as a priest there. When the Cataclysm happened, the friend went berserk due to emotional resonance and was killed. Asha's mother took in her friend's daughter, Mirha, and the girls were raised as sisters. A small group of children gather in the woods, asking each other what they want to play. One suggests hide and seek, but then another mentions that they would never find Asha. Another child suggests they play hopscotch. Asha (in exposition again) explains that Mirha had no trouble getting along with ordinary children, while she herself found it to be a frustrating waste of time, and yet she still smiled along with them. She thought she would only need to continue like this until getting admitted into Eos Magic Academy, where she would no longer have to deal with kids who were nothing special, and where she would no longer have a reason to play with Mirha. As an academy official looks over Asha's personal file, she tells the young girl that the water channel question was designed to prevent anyone from getting a perfect score, something that Asha managed to do anyway. Asha is confused when the official tells her that she is highly intelligent and would make a great scholar, and suggests that she apply to a general academy since they cannot admit a student with a divine affinity of only 136. Asha protests because the student admitted just before her only had a divine affinity of 120, but the official explains that the student is a triple-Light who will benefit from a large multiplier. For someone with all different attributes, a minimum divine affinity of 300 is required. The official stamps "Rejected" on Asha's paperwork and tells her that she must have other talents that would allow her to do many things. Asha thinks to herself that this is true, but she will still be beneath the ultimate class—magicians. Outside the academy, other children are amazed that Mirha is a triple-Wind whose divine affinity is 1830, even higher than that of Trisilla-nim, the current Priest of Wind (1500). Mirha tries to be humble, saying that she still has a lot to learn. One of the children shouts that Asha is coming, and asks her how it went. Asha replies that she failed because her divine affinity is 136. She then warns Mirha not to say any comforting words because they would only make her angrier. Since the academy is a boarding school, their career paths will be different and they will not be seeing each other anymore. Asha finally tells Mirha to study hard because she will become a great magician. (In exposition) Asha explains that even with the absence of superior suras since the Cataclysm, magic still held high authority since the world valued the strong over the intelligent and she could not compete with that. She questions why she should be educated with those who were below her level, and states that it would have been better if she had no divine affinity at all. Since superior suras have vanished from the world, humans could live without magic, even though it maybe be inconvenient. Did the gods leave magic in the world just to frustrate her? Exam scores are posted, and Asha holds the #1 spot. The older students begin to gossip as Asha stands around the corner, listening. They mention that her scores would be high enough to put her at the top at Eos Magic Academy, but that she is someone smart who has a low divine affinity. They say that she learns quickly, barely needs to study, and probably does not understand what effort means. She is smart, yet when they ask her questions, she makes them feel like idiots and embarrasses them. In exposition again, Asha states that she learned once she was in school that she could barely interact with anyone who was beneath her level, especially without a mediator like Mirha. In a short time, they no longer admired her as an honor student and called her "an extreme overachiever" instead. Asha admitted that they were not completely wrong, since she did not stop with class textbooks. While the others spent their time playing and socializing, she would browse through the library to learn more. She should not waste her time with those who say they could be as smart as her if they spent all that time in the library as well. She will still pass them by, graduate earlier, and enter society sooner. Even if she cannot become a magician, she will still have a much nicer life than them. As some leaves swirl in the breeze, Asha's mother asks her how she is doing in school. Asha replies that she is studying as usual, and that she will be graduating soon. Her mother explains that she meant if she was enjoying her school life. Asha asks her if that matters, since it is simply the last step before she enters society towards a better future. Her mother notes that Asha's father used to say the same thing, that everything he did was for a better future, so he never enjoyed his present life and ended up dying before the age of 30. Asha says that it was just bad luck that he died in the Cataclysm. Her mother suggests that she think less about the future and live more in the present. Asha asks her if her teacher told her that she had very few friends. Her mother simply tells her to smile a little more like other children her age and stop pushing herself so much. Asha says that if this is all she has to say, she can leave; she can tell her these unimportant things after graduation. The year N5, 6th month, 30th day—This was the last day Asha saw her mother alive. Currygom's comment The Kubera audio drama CD is on sale now. Please check my blog for more details~! (The URL to my blog is at the bottom of the webtoon.) Afterword * (thumbnail - young Asha): All the younger Ashas are not the same age. Can you see the age difference between Asha in the beginning of this episode and Asha at the end? It means that a lot of time has passed. * (young Mirha playing with Asha): Mirha was once taller than Asha, when Asha was very young. * (Asha and Mirha - admissions day): In Episode 2-132, Lilia mentioned that Asha, at the age of 7, memorized the water channel which surprised the magic academy staff. This means that at the time, Asha was 7 years old, and Mirha, who is 9 years older than Asha, was 16 years old (she looks half her age). Asha was taller than Mirha already. Lilia was admitted into the academy at this time. She was around 12 years old then, so wouldn't she have been somewhat taller than both of them? * (Asha's father): Since Asha doesn't quite resemble her mother, she probably takes after her father? * (Note: The Audio CD section will be translated at a later time.) * + Typos have been fixed. Thank you for letting me know! 2-174 children on Carte (detail).png|kids 2-174 right-handed.png|test 2-174 Asha's father.png|dad 2-174 Asha's mother (detail).png|mom Notes * Eos Magic Academy was first mentioned in Ep.2-132. * We learn this episode that Asha was originally right-handed, since she wrote her test answers using her right hand. * The test that Asha takes suggests that the planet Taitalika had kings. It is also possible that this is the planet where the king of humans lived around the year D0.Kubera Volume 7 * When this episode was originally released, fans speculated that Asha's mother is a quarter because her hair and eye color are different, and deduced that Asha's father must have been a pure-blood. Currygom confirms this in a later afterword. References